Is it just me or have they not put up booking for one-day passes? Might be opened nearer the time, as they try hard to get pre-booking to underwrite costs. Having said that, I don't think they've ever actually sold out of on-the-day tickets.

9th and 10th August at the Hilton in Birminham, anyway -- next to the NEC.

I, too, would like to attend an Auto Assembly one year as it seems to be the most efficient way to meet up with other Archivers. I don't think it'll be a financial possibility this year, though. But I do have questions about costs once I get over there, such as:

How much are hotel rooms?
How much does transit on the trains cost?
Will my bank card work, or will I need to exchange monies?

Etc., etc.

Basically, the price of the plane ticket has remained stable around $1000 for the past five years, but I don't know how much I'll need budgeted for once I get over there. Not too fussed about visiting landmarks; it's the people I'd be interested in.

To stay for three nights for me this year is just under £160, that's with the special discount for convention attendees.

EDIT: That is of course the convention hotel, if you're coming for more than the event- and it'd be mad to come all that way for three day- finding cheaper hotels to stay in either side wherever you are in the country is easy enough.

For the event itself I'd reccomend at least staying at the NEC complex, Knightdramon has a horror story about his walk through 800 miles of Midlands wilderness to get back to his city centre hotel after missing the last train from Birmingham international.

Plus side, the even is basically right next to Birmingham airport, so if you can get a plane there you basically land on top of it.

Trains vary wildly on how long before you book your tickets, which operator and which routes your going on (actual distance is almost a minor consideration). The British train network is basically useless and a source of deep pain and madness to all who use it.

No idea on cards, but I'd have thought standard things like visa would be international?

Once again this year I'm there from Friday to the Monday morning. Other than that, no firm plans on what to do and when to do it. And annoyingly I seem to have deleted my booking confirmation email, better contact them before August to make sure I definitely did book now, I know how my wacky sitcom life works.

And Hound and Sade's daughter will probably be boozing age before they make it over here

As part of my great Northern Journey, I met old mucker of this site Lord Zarek for a coke this afternoon. And by strange (strange because we live hundreds of miles apart) was at the same, apparently "quaint", Birmingham train station as Knightdramon's sister, only missing her by hours.

And Hound and Sade's daughter will probably be boozing age before they make it over here

Nope, we're doing next year for sure. We're planning at least one more midget so it's now or wait 13-ish more years. So, barring an "early surprise" or extenuating circumstances that will force us to use our savings we'll be seeing whichever peeps show up in 2015.

We'll be bringing the rugrat, I'm pretty sure neither of us is comfortable with the concept of leaving her with anyone for a week.

Whee!

This is my signature. My wasted space. My little corner. You can't have it. It's mine. I can write whatever I want. And I have!

Taking last year as an example, three people plus someone I used to have fairly well-intentioned arguments with on the IDW forums might be stretching anything but a very literal definition of "other Archivers"... but, er, yeah... a lot more likely to show up to things like this if other people are going, personally. Toys are purely opportunistic purchases at conventions -- no apparent price advantage over online -- and I've mostly got the few autographs I've wanted on things.

I, too, would like to attend an Auto Assembly one year as it seems to be the most efficient way to meet up with other Archivers. I don't think it'll be a financial possibility this year, though. But I do have questions about costs once I get over there, such as:

How much are hotel rooms?
How much does transit on the trains cost?
Will my bank card work, or will I need to exchange monies?

Etc., etc.

Basically, the price of the plane ticket has remained stable around $1000 for the past five years, but I don't know how much I'll need budgeted for once I get over there. Not too fussed about visiting landmarks; it's the people I'd be interested in.

Hmmm...like dalek, will try my best to answer/provide a guide.

Hotel rooms vary wildly, they can range from like 65 pounds per night or so [maaaaybe cheaper for a single room] to 90-100 pounds for the more posh hotels. 65 pounds is like 108 USD by today's rate.

Transit on the trains, as dalek said, varies WILDLY. AA is held right next to Birmingham International, so -if- you land there and you book at the Hilton [place of the convention] you don't have to use a single train. For adults a train ticket, depending on when booked and the destination [not so much the distance] can cost from 3 pounds to 100 pounds. If you're just hovering around Birmingham you can get a day ticket for like...7? I think.

Bank card...I have no clue. You should probably bring and exchange money. If it helps, some dealers appeared to be accepting paypal last year.

Kind of sucks for pretty much -EVERYBODY- else exchanging their money to UK pounds, right? You give in more dollars/euros...you get less pounds. Whereas...we give less pounds, and get more of everything else

Regardless, it's a longshot and it will probably be worse for you financially, but if you wish to visit AA you can always hover over York afterwards and crash at my place.

And, to go back, as dalek said, yes, the closer to AA the hotel, the better. Have you watched an american werewolf in london? The beginning with the guys lost in the wilderness with NOTHING around them? That was me and my sister, catching the veeeeery last bus something like 40 minutes after going through the wilderness, going all the way around the city, and walking in some dodgy roads to get the hotel.

I get the impression the US mainly (entirely?) uses old magstripe cards rather than chip-and-pin -- which is probably why a lot of the card details fraudulently used in this country are American cards -- but supermarkets at least generally still have the option to swipe and sign. Won't work with self-service machines, of course.

If you buy at a counter rather than using machines, there's a day ticket you can get that covers trains and buses in the Midlands for about eight quid --

Taking last year as an example, three people plus someone I used to have fairly well-intentioned arguments with on the IDW forums might be stretching anything but a very literal definition of "other Archivers"... but, er, yeah... a lot more likely to show up to things like this if other people are going, personally. Toys are purely opportunistic purchases at conventions -- no apparent price advantage over online -- and I've mostly got the few autographs I've wanted on things.

With Jim's box art book out soon, hoping he'll be around.

Yeah, but to be honest, there weren't many other "communities" around. Most of the people I met and spoke to were almost "random" guys, no relation to any forum whatsoever.

Plus, each time, you meet more people and more join "the family". Last time through vigorous smoking breaks we gained one extra member in the company

Toys in the UK, even at conventions, are opportunistic for people in the UK alone. In this example, me finding a Generations Whirl for around 29 pounds is more or less a bargain. Clay finding one in the very same environment, but coming from the US market is like the dealer is trying to rob him.

Some of the highlights though are the interactions with whomever is there; it was nice telling Milne I was a huge fan ever since Megatron Origins, Roche offering to sketch me a headshot of any wrecker of my choice, commenting that my name sounds epic, and Roberts more or less acknowledging me as "yeah...the guy that started the roller->tarn thing".

SPOILER! (select to read)I'm shorter than all of you who haven't met me think

This explains a lot, actually!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clay

I, too, would like to attend an Auto Assembly one year as it seems to be the most efficient way to meet up with other Archivers. I don't think it'll be a financial possibility this year, though.

Do you think you'd be able to save up enough to make it a reality next year? The wife and I have always wanted to visit England and we figure this'd be a great event to plan it around (with some more typical touristy stuff crammed in before/after). And it'd be pretty awesome if we had a whole pack of out-of-country Archivers there all at once.

(This of course presupposes that wifey isn't 8 1/2 months pregnant and/or we don't have a newborn baby at the time, which is a definite possibility).

Those flight costs, though...ouch!

Oh, and regarding credit/debit cards...your Visa or Mastercard will probably work but you need to call your provider before you go and let them know you're travelling. If charges from half-way around the world suddenly show up on the card, they might decide it's been stolen and cancel it while you're on your trip. Bank cards are a bit more hit-or-miss in my experience, so bringing plenty of cash wouldn't be a bad idea.

In terms of helping out, assuming my conditions don't change, I can put a couple of people up in my flat for a night or two (I live within easy travelling distance of the hotel), and would even be gracious enough to let them have my bed whilst I slept on the couch. Weirdly my Mother had no problem with the idea when I made a similar offer to Sades when there was a chance of her making it over pre-Hound so it shouldn't be an issue as long as your prepared to put up with the state of my room or the madness of my cat.